Tips for choosing domain name from experts

Bias towards .com

"I know, it's 2017. Why are we still talking about .com? The internet's been around 20-plus years. Why does .com matter so much when there are so many TLD extension options? The answer is, .com is the most recognized and most accessible TLD. Cognitive fluency dictates that we should go with something easy, that people have an association with, and .com is still the primary TLD. If you want to build up a very brandable domain that can do well, you want a .com. Probably, eventually, if you are very successful, you're going to have to try and go capture it anyway, and so I would bias you to get it if you can If it's unavailable, my suggestion would be to go with the .net, .co, or a known ccTLD. Those are your best bets. A known ccTLD might be something like .ca in Canada or .it in Italy." - Rand Fishkin - Moz

Pick a Unique Domain Name

"A unique domain name will help your clients remember you. Stay away from names that play on the reputation of an existing business. Generate a following that is exclusively yours." - Wix

Easy to Type

"Think of some of the most popular websites in the world. What comes to mind? Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Yahoo, CNN... One big thing they have in common is that they're all easy to spell. Your visitors should be able to type your domain name without a problem. If you have to explain the spelling more than once for it to be understood, then it's too complicated. The last thing you want is for potential visitors to mistype your domain and end up on a different website! Here's an easy way to test this... Tell 10 people your potential domain name and ask them to spell it. If more than a few people struggle to spell it, then you need to simplify it." - ROBERT MENING - WebsiteSetup

Append or modify if necessary

"Tried all the tips above, but ended up with a domain name that's unavailable? If you have your heart set on a domain name, you can append or modify it a little to make it unique for registration. You can add a prefix or suffix, as was done in Rand's examples of "ThePastaTerra.com" or "PastaTerraShop.com". You also have a little wiggle room on tip #4: go ahead and use a different extension, so long as it doesn't conflict with the other tips and works for your brand and audience. This might look something like "Terra.Pasta". We hope that these 8 tips help you zone in on the most effective domain name for your site. If you're currently juggling a few domain name ideas, feel free to share them in the comments. We'd love to hear what you're considering, and can help your business establish a thriving web presence. We offer services like website design and search marketing, all engineered to give you a leg up on the competition." - Denis Pinsky - Forbes

Don't overthink it

"I hear from a lot of people who get stuck at this point because they're afraid of making the wrong choice. The most common problem is that they can't find an available .com. If this is you, just make your best guess and move on. A not-quite-perfect domain name is better than no domain name at all. Just do your best and own it!" - Amy Lynn Andrews

Register Your Corresponding Social Media Handles

"Social media is key these days - whether we like it or not. The average web-connected human spends one hour on Facebook every day, and, in total, Facebook gets 2 billion visits a month. That's BILLION. What I'm trying to say is: People are much more likely to check what's going on with your brand on Facebook than by actually visiting your website. This is just one of the reasons why you absolutely have to have your professional profiles set up on the most popular social media sites. Whenever possible, get the same handles as your domain name. If these are taken, be creative and use some suffixes or prefixes. Some options: now, daily, hq, get, app. For example, my fictional Lotterio.com brand could go by LotterioHQ on Twitter." - Karol K - Winning WP

Help Yourself to Some Domain Name Generators

"This is another kind of helper that you can use if you're finding it hard to come up with a cool domain name, and thus, by extension, your business name as well. These tools are very simple to use, but also surprisingly helpful. All they need is one keyword from you - a seed keyword (or a seed key-phrase) - and, in return, they give you tens or even hundreds of suggestions, full of valid and available domain names that you can register right away. The best such tools include: LeanDomainSearch, created by the guys at Automattic (also known for WordPress.com). For example, this is what you get when looking up 'coffee': LeanDomainSearch Business name generator by Shopify works similarly to the above, and also helps you build a Shopify store with the domain name of your choice. Nameboy is a bit more old-school - especially in its design - but it's still useful. This one needs more specific input, and does a better job once you have a general direction you want to follow with your name." - Karol K - Winning WP